Thomas

1) When was Edison born?Edison was born on February 11th, 1847 in Ohio

2) Describe what Edison’s education was like. How does Edison’s education compare to your education?Edison's education was way different from mines. Edison's education was mostly taught at home rather than in school. His mother taught him how to do reading, writing, and arithmetic. Edison only spent only a few months attending school.

3) How did Edison spend his free time? Edison spent his free time reading since he was a very curious boy and did a lot of reading on his own.

4) What opportunities did Edison have as a telegraph operator? Edison had two opportunities. One is reading technical books and another one is reading scientific books.

5) What was Edison’s first successful invention? Edison's first successful invention was the stock ticker.

6) Edison’s second major invention was the tin foil phonograph. What did it do? The tin foil phonograph was a machine that could record and then reproduce the exact same sound.

7) What contributions did Edison make to the electric lighting industry? Edison improved the electric lightning industry by making it turn into a house using electricity.

8) What was Edison’s third invention? How can its impact be seen on the world today? Edison's third invention was the electricity traveling through the house. We can still see this because we can still see this because of light, computers, laptops, and etc.

9) Describe one challenge that Edison had to face. One challenge Edison had to face was poor health. He was suffering from tons and tons of ailments.

10) What do you think Edison will be remembered for the most? Why? I believe Edison is remembered the most because of his electricity traveling through houses invention.It was used throughout the world then and even now.

1- How do you think Thomas Edison improved the quality of people’s lives in the 1900’s though technology? It helped the people in the 1900's by making things more handy and much more quicker.

2- How have Thomas Edison’s inventions improved the quality of your life today? It helped us a lot by all of the cool inventions especially the electricity running through houses thing. It gave us more joy by making us have computers, lights and T.V.

Percy Spencer

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Percy Spencer's First Microwave Oven Drawing

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Essential Questions

1. Who is the inventor and what about their life impacted their ability to create the invention?

The inventor is named Percy Spencer. Percy Spencer was born on Howland, Maine in July 19, 1894. His father died when he was 18 months old. After his father's death, his mom left home and Percy was left to be cared by another different aunt and uncle on the farm. He worked hard when he was a child chopping wood and also feeding the animals in the farm. Percy a kid that was very active and also curious. He only went to school for elementary and then left home to work for money. When Percy was 12 years old, he worked in a local thread mill. When Percy died in September, he was mostly honored for the microwave but also honored as an excellent scientist. Before joining the U.S. Navy in 1912, he learned how to do wireless telegraphy. He joined the Raytheon Company in 1920. Percy Spencer died in September 8th,1970.
Percy Spencer never had a life like ours. He was a hard working person even though he did not have a very good education. He was taught only from school and from books. It did not say why he was working with the magnetrons but I am pretty sure he just found that job.

2. What is the invention and how did it come invented?

The invention is the microwave. One evening, in 1946, Percy Spencer was working in front of the magnetrons. He had a chocolate bar in his pocket and when he reached into his pocket, he only felt the gooey melted chocolate. He then noticed it was the magnetron's heat that made it melt. Percy then tried many experiments to prove that he was right. He fist used popcorn kernels right in front of the magnetrons and the kernels popped and then exploded into fluffy white morsels. Then he put a raw egg still in its shell in front of the magnetrons and it came out just the way he wanted. The egg exploded as the inside yolk cooked faster than the outside parts. After these two simple experiments, he just instantly began inventing the microwave.

3. How did the invention affect society at that time?

Percy Spencer changed the world by making food heating faster so it would easier to cook food or heat food. Before Percy Spencer invented the microwave, it would take a little longer time to cook or heat some food.This microwave that Percy made was 750 pounds and only used in places where food must be cooked quicker but then the people realized that French fries would turn white and limp and also meat would refuse to brown. I think that Percy Spencer's invention spread on news because every country wanted it.


4. Is the invention still used today? Why? How? Changes?

Th invention is still used today because it can help heat food or cook food easier. There is no changes since the first microwave was invented.

5. Could this invention have an impact on the future? Explain.

I believe this invention could have an impact in the future. I believe that the improvement it could do is that you just put the food you want to cook into a piece of tray and then the machine would put it into the microwave and when it is finished cooking, it would put the food on your table and then you just take it and happily munch on it.

6. Did anyone help Percy make the microwave? Who? What did he/she do? It does not say but I think thathe must had some help with making the microwave.

Percy Spencer


Hello! I, Percy Spencer am not really famous like George Washington but still famous for the microwave. I was born in July 19, 1894 at Howland, Maine. My education was not very good because I only went to school through elementary. I was very poor because my father died when I was only 18 months old. After my poor father’s death, my mom could not manage so she also left me alone to b cared for by another aunt and uncle and their farm. Although I was unhappy, I tried to do my best chopping the wood for my new family and also feeding the farm animals. Nothing inspired me to do the incredible invention because it was only and accident.
My invention is the microwave. I was working on the magnetrons and I had a chocolate bar in his pocket and when he reached into his pocket, I only felt the gooey melted chocolate. I then noticed it was the magnetron's heat that made it melt. I then tried many experiments to prove that I was right. I first used popcorn kernels right in front of the magnetrons and the kernels popped and then exploded into fluffy white morsels. Then I put a raw egg still in its shell in front of the magnetrons and it came out just the way I wanted. The egg exploded as the inside yolk cooked faster than the outside parts. After these two simple experiments, I just instantly began inventing the microwave.
. I changed the world by making food heating faster so it would easier to cook food or heat food. Before I invented the microwave, it would take a little longer time to cook or heat some food. This microwave that I made was 750 pounds and only used in places where food must be cooked quicker but then the people realized that French fries would turn white and limp and also meat would refuse to brown. I think that my invention spread on news because every country wanted it.

The invention is still used today because it can help heat food or cook food easier. There are some changes since it was invented. The invention that I made is still on sale but I do not believe that my invention is yours in your home right now. My invention is very not expensive so it usually used for the poor because they do not have that much money.
I believe this invention could have an impact in the future. I believe that the improvement it could do is that you just put the food you want to cook into a piece of tray and then the machine would put it into the microwave and when it is finished cooking, it would put the food on your table and then you just take it and happily munch on it. If you want more fun, then you can make a robot that would serve you the food little by little so throughout the whole method, your hands would not touch a thing yet.




Annotated Bibliography


Learning, Enchanted. "Enchanted Learning." 13 Jan. 2009. 13 Jan. 2009 <http://members.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/page/m/microwaveoven.shtml>. This place is very useful for information on the microwave and who made it. It says everything in only a few sentences.

Discover, SIRS. "SIRS Discover." 13 Jan. 2009. 13 Jan. 2009 <http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BARTICLE%3BART%3B0000261645>. This site tells everything on Percy Spencer.

"Microwave Oven." Southwest Museum Of Engineering, Communications and Computation. 14 Jan. 2009 <http://www.smecc.org/microwave_oven.htm>.
This site says everything you need.

"Percy Spencer -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 14 Jan. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Spencer>. A little info. you need.

"Inventor Percy L. Spencer Biography." The Great Idea Finder - Celebrating the Spirit of Innovation. 14 Jan. 2009 <http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/spencer.htm>. Great information.